Monday, May 18, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Putting it on the page

Suzanne Fisher Staples will be the visiting author at this summer’s Youth Writer’s Camp at MTSU. Staples, a former correspondent for United Press International in Asia who now writes young adult novels, is the winner of the prestigious Newberry Award for her novel Shabanu. The Youth Writer’s Camp is a two-week intensive writing camp for 4th through 12th graders Monday through Thursday June 8-18. Youngsters can expect community building with fellow writers, realistic feedback from peers and mentors, supportive writing groups, guided writing experiences, and exploration of new writing styles and topics. Each camper will get a writer’s camp T-shirt, a writer’s notebook, and an anthology of writing. Drs. Bobbie Solley and Ellen Donovan of the MTSU Department of Elementary and Special Education are camp directors.

For more information, go to http://www.middletnwritingproject.org/ or send an e-mail to dianne.hall@comcast.net

Working for a living

Here is some more information from the MTSU Career Development Center on the prospects for recent college graduates entering the job market. The center’s May 2009 Career and Employment Snapshot states, “The data indicates (sic) that the region’s economic situation significantly affected hiring of college graduates between the end of November and mid-March. There was a greater decrease in entry-level and student employment postings during this period than at the end of the term in May. This could mean the decline is starting to bottom or it is just a reflection of a last minute rush by employers to hire students before summer begins.”

Contact Bill Fletcher, center director, at 615-898-2501.
bfletch@mtsu.edu

The Souter legacy, part two

Outgoing U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has been a stalwart defender of First Amendment rights, says David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar. Hudson writes, “He (Souter) dissented from the Court’s ruling in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006), in which the majority of the Court limited public-employee speech by eliminating protection for speech made pursuant to official job duties. Souter disagreed, finding ‘there is no good reason for categorically discounting a speaker’s interest in commenting on a matter of public concern just because the government employs him.’”

Contact Hudson at 615-741-1600.
mailto:615-741-1600.dhudson@fac.org

TR EXTRA

THE TOUR DU JOUR--MTSU’s Office of Admissions will offer student-led campus tours at 10 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding holidays) through July 31. The tours are by reservation only. The tours slated for May 18, May 22 and May 27 are full. Plenty of openings remain for all of June and July. No tours will be given May 25 (Memorial Day) and July 3 because the university will be closed for those holidays. To make a reservation, call 615-898-5670 or visit mtsu.edu/admissn/tour_admissn.shtml and click on “Schedule Campus Tours.” For more information, contact Michelle Arnold at 615-898-5280 or maarnold@mtsu.edu.

MAZEL TOV!—Congratulations to WMOT-FM News Producer Shawn Jacobs, who won three Honorable Mention honors in the latest round of the statewide Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters Association Awards. Jacobs was acknowledged in the “Best Radio Newscast,” “Best Radio Enterprise,” and “Best Radio Public Affairs” categories. WMOT-FM is the 100,000-watt public broadcasting service of MTSU. Turn to 89.5 on your FM dial or listen in real time at http://www.wmot.org/. For more information, call the station at 615-898-2800.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS--“People are shouting too many philosophies of health and happiness at us,” notes a commentator on the recent explosion of interest in a topic of vital interest to us all—our own perceived well-being. But long before the shouting began, philosophers like Aristotle, Epicurus, Montaigne, Spinoza, Mill, Hume and James were carefully considering the question of how to get happy and stay that way. Dr. James Oliver will lead students through an examination of this subject in “The Philosophy of Happiness,” a class slated for Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall at MTSU. “In this course, we’ll survey older philosophical ideas about happiness, the new approach in psychology, and some of the best fictional literature,” says Oliver. ”Our approach will be calm, reasonable and interdisciplinary, with no gratuitous shouting.” Contact Oliver at 615-898-2050 or poliver@mtsu.edu.

GET A CLUE!--MTSU is expanding its popular CSI: MTSU four-day program for students entering the 10th, 11th and 12th grades in Rutherford and surrounding counties. This year’s event is slated for June 16-19. The goals of CSI: MTSU are: to allow students to explore many unique career possibilities in forensic science; to provide a “real life” reasons to tackle higher level math and science courses; and to develop skills in teamwork, seeing and understanding details, critical thinking and presentation skills. The student investigators will be presented with a re-creation of an actual crime scene. Each student is trained in the fundamental processes of collecting evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, hair and fibers, simulated blood spatter, and shoe prints. For more information or to register, call 615-898-2462 or send an e-mail to eshockle@mtsu.edu.